‘And he entered and was passing through Jericho.' Meanwhile Jesus continued on His way to Jerusalem, passing through Jericho on the way, for He had another appointment there. Another man was blind and needed to see. His name was Zacchaeus.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus, and he was a chief public officer, Here we have the account of a chief public officer who was converted, whose name was Zacchaeus (ironically his name is probably derived from the Hebrew word for ‘righteous'). His conversion and change of life must have c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TRANSFORMATION AND SALVATION OF AN OUTCAST (19:2-10). In direct contrast with the rich ruler is another man of status. He is a chief public officer. But in contrast with the rich ruler his eyes are opened, and he gladly gives much of his wealth to the poor, and puts right all the wrong he has d... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he sought to see Jesus who he was, and he could not for the crowd, because he was short in stature.' Zacchaeus suffered from being short of stature. It is surprising how many short men fight their way to success. It is as if their fight against being short spurs them on to great things. But la... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he ran on before, and climbed up into a fig-mulberry tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.' So he ran on ahead, and found a fig-mulberry tree along Jesus' route. From there he knew that he would be able to see Jesus, remain safe, and, with any luck, escape without anyone knowing that h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ' We can imagine his horror, therefore, when Jesus stopped below the tree and looked up. He was totally exposed to public view. There can be little doubt that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he hurried, and came down, and received him joyfully.' Something happened that day in Zacchaeus' life. For he not only humbled himself and ‘came down', he also received Jesus into his house, and did it joyfully. It was as though a great burden was lifted from his life. He was transformed by th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He is gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.” ' But all that the crowds saw was this rapacious and evil man, and that Jesus had gone in to stay with him in his house of crime. And they murmured among themselves. Something was wrong here. Jesu... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Zacchaeus stood, and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I am giving to the poor, and if I have wrongfully exacted anything of any man, I restore fourfold.” Unknown to the crowd, inside that house a miracle was taking place. Earlier when Jesus had been questioned about who could b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus said to him, “Today is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” ' Jesus recognised his true repentance and his desire to be forgiven his sins, and declared that that day salvation had come to his house. God had accepted his repentance, and change of heart... [ Continue Reading ]
“For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” And then He described Himself and His saving mission in terms of the parables of the shepherd and the woman with the lost coin in Luke 15:1, which in the Section chiasmus was in parallel with the verses that now follow. The emphasis... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as they heard these things, he added and spoke a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the Kingly Rule of God was immediately to appear.' The loose connection confirms that this passage is attached to the previous one, but is vague enough to otherwise give u... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE RECEIVING OF THE KINGDOM, THE TESTING OUT OF THE SERVANTS AS TO THEIR SUITABILITY FOR HIGH POSITION, AND THE FATE OF REBELS (19:11-27). . We come now to the end of this sixth section of the Gospel. It appropriately ends with the picture of the one who goes away and returns, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.”' The stress on ‘far country' is an indication that they must not expect His immediate return, and that His Kingship will not be granted to Him in Jerusalem. Nor are they likely to inter... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he called ten servants of his, and gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘You trade with this until I come'.” Meanwhile it is made clear that His servants will have a job to do. They are being left with responsibilities that they are to fulfil. ‘Ten servants' indicates ‘a number of servants'... [ Continue Reading ]
“But his citizens hated him, and sent a deputation after him, saying, ‘We will not that this man reign over us.' ” However, there were others who rejected completely the idea of His rule over them. And they sent a deputation after Him, basically informing God that they did not want Him as King. In... [ Continue Reading ]
“And it came about that, when he was come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading.” But one day the King will return having received His Kingship. And in that day He... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.' ” The first servant who was brought before the King had a success story to unfold. With the mina he had been given he had traded and worked hard, and had produced ten minas. He had increased what he had been given te... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant. Because you were found faithful in a very little, you have authority over ten cities.' ” The King commended him, and told him that in view of his faithfulness in making such large profits with such a small amount of money he would be given authority... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.' ” The second servant came and claimed that he had made five minas.... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he said to him also, ‘You be also over five cities.' ” The King responded by setting him over five cities, one for each mina. The principle of reward was now established and would apply to all except ‘the other one'.... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the other came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, here is your mina, which I kept laid up in a neckcloth, for I feared you, because you are an austere man. You take up that which you do not lay down, and you reap that which you did not sow.' ” But one of the servants came who, on receiving the mina, had b... [ Continue Reading ]
“He says to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I am an austere man, taking up that which I laid not down, and reaping that which I did not sow, then why did you not give my money into the bank, and I at my coming would have required it with interest?' ” T... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take away from him the mina, and give it to him who has ten minas.' And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas.' ” The result of his failure was that he lost his mina, unlike the other two who have been mentioned. The minas, with their relatively small value,... [ Continue Reading ]
“I say to you, that to every one who has will be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away from him. But these my enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, bring here, and slay them before me.” The significance of the situation is now summed up by the King. Tho... [ Continue Reading ]
SECTION 7 GOD'S ONLY BELOVED SON (19:29-21:38). Throughout Luke the glory, and power, and uniqueness of Jesus has been revealed, and especially His uniqueness in His relationship with God. And now the central idea of this Section is that Jesus has come as God's only and unique Son (Luke 20:13). He r... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER INITIAL PREPARATIONS JESUS RIDES INTO JERUSALEM IN TRIUMPH ON A COLT (19:29-40). Jesus here deliberately fulfils the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 (Matthew 21:4) by riding into Jerusalem on an ass's colt, and there He is greeted by the crowds. Contrary to what at first sight seems to be the case H... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it came to about that, when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,' Coming along the mountain road from Jericho Jesus approaches Bethphage and Bethany, two villages on the outskirts of Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives, the lat... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Saying, “Go your way into the village over against you, in which as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no man ever yet sat. Loose him, and bring him.” ' The ‘village over against you' is presumably Bethphage, which may also explain why its name is mentioned, and there they were to find... [ Continue Reading ]
“And if any one ask you, ‘Why do you loose him?', thus shall you say, ‘The Lord has need of him.' ” It may well be that He had already made an arrangement that He would collect it when He needed it and that whoever collected it would give a kind of password, ‘the Lord has need of him'. Or He may ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And those who were sent went away, and found even as he had said to them.' Not surprisingly those who went to collect the ass's colt found everything exactly as Jesus had said. But its centrality in the chiasmus indicates that the detail of the collection, and the fact that it went smoothly, was s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as they were loosing the colt, its owners said to them, “Why do you loose the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of him”.' Luke then tells us that the arrangements worked smoothly and were followed word for word. ‘Its owners.' This may possibly confirm that the ass was available for hiri... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they brought him to Jesus, and they threw their garments on the colt, and set Jesus on it.' The disciples then brought the colt to Jesus, threw their garments on it, and set Jesus on it. This was a further action indicating the royalty of the rider. We can compare this with 1 Kings 1:33 where... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as he went, they spread their garments in the way.' Garments were then spread in the path before the colt for Jesus to ride over. This was a regular way of showing honour to someone important. Rabbinic literature offers parallels, and Plutarch tells us that when Cato Minor left his troops they... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as he was now drawing near, even at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,' We are reminded here that we must see what was happening in a twofold way. Firstly in th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” ' At first sight this appears to give the solution to the question of how the crowds saw it. But in fact it does not. For this quotation from the Psalms 118:26, which probably referred to the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ' The Pharisees did not like what they were hearing, and they called on Jesus to rebuke these who were shouting out. It may have been concern for His and their safety. It may have been because they did not like... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RESPONSE OF THE PHARISEES: GOD'S COMING JUDGMENT ON JERUSALEM (19:39-46). It was not to be expected that this hearty welcome of Jesus would please the Pharisees. Perhaps they were afraid of the reaction of Rome, or possibly they felt that it was coming near to blasphemy. But either way they wan... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he answered and said, “I tell you that, if these hold their peace, the stones will cry out.” ' Jesus' reply was simple and striking. If these men held their peace, the very stones would be constrained to cry out. It was an indication that there was One here Whom creation recognised (compare ho... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it,' Then Jesus moved solemnly on towards the city, and as He saw its future He wept over it. His thoughts were full and overflowing. He had no pleasure at the thought of the judgment that was coming on this city because of what they were going... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which belong to peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.” ' His heart was torn because Jerusalem could not recognise its day. He was here as its King, and through Him they could have found peace. And that would have saved them from the... [ Continue Reading ]
“For the days will come on you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you, and surround you, and keep you in on every side, and will dash you to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone on another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he entered into the temple, and began to cast out those who sold,' And He entered the Temple, and looking around at what was happening there in the Court of the Gentiles, He was angry. And so He began to cast out those who sold (He began and continued), emptying it of the noisy traders so that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Saying to them, “It is written, And my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” ' And as He thrust out the dishonest traders He called on them to consider their ways, citing Jeremiah 7:11 and pointing out their dishonesty, likening them to a bandit's cavern. The dis... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS PREACHES IN THE TEMPLE (19:47-21:38). Having driven the traders out of the Temple in His prophetic zeal Jesus then revealed the greatness of His great courage by returning daily to that same Temple in order to teach the people. As the traders, who would quickly have returned, watched with bal... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him,' Every day Jesus returned to the Temple to preach (and to heal ‘the blind and the lame'- Matthew 21:14). Meanwhile all the leading authorities were banded togeth... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they could not find what they might do, for the people all hung upon him, listening.' However they were prevented from open action because all the people were eager to hear His teaching and saw Him as a prophet. They were well aware that to publicly arrest One Who was seen as a prophet of God... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS IS CHALLENGED BY THE SANHEDRIN MEMBERS AS TO HIS AUTHORITY (19:47-20:8). This challenge came at the beginning of this week in which Jesus was constantly tested out, and in each case His replies were more than sufficient to deal with the matters brought against Him, so that there soon came a t... [ Continue Reading ]